Bollywood’s latest version of Alauddin Khilji has been revealed. He resembles Thorin Oakenshield from The Hobbit and has a nasty scar under his left eye to signal menace.

In the second poster, the kohl-eyed Khilji gazes upon himself in a mirror, his tresses barely contained by his gaudy golden crown.

Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s upcoming historical drama Padmavati is based on the fiction that in the fourteenth century, Alauddin Khilji fell madly in love with the queen of Chittor, Padmini, and sought to take her kingdom by force. Rather than submit to Khilji’s ardour, the lore goes, Padmini and the other women of Chittor killed themselves by leaping into a fire.

Bhansali’s movie, which has been bedevilled by protests from chauvinist groups, stars Ranveer Singh as Khilji, Deepika Padukone as Padmini, and Shahid Kapoor as her husband Rawal Ratan Singh. Posters revealing the appearances of Padukone and Kapoor have been released, and Singh’s look was supposed to have been the piece de resistance.

The movie was to have been released on November 17, but will now storm the cinemas on December 1.

Previous adaptations include Jai Chitod (1961) and Maharani Padmini (1964), both by Jaswant Jhaveri, and the television series Chittod Ki Rani Padmini Ka Johur.